Aquis has been given the green light to move to the next stage of its bid for a major redevelopment of its Canberra casino, including 200 poker machines.
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Aquis made the announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange on Thursday and it was later confirmed by a spokesman for Chief Minister Andrew Barr.
It is understood Aquis has been given approval to proceed to detailed negotiations, as long it provides some final information about the source of funds for the expansion, priced last year at more than $300 million.
In its statement to the Australian stock exchange, Aquis chief executive Jessica Mellor said the proposal still included six-star villa accommodation and a five-star hotel, seven new restaurants, a night club and bars, a luxury brand shopping mall, and a day spa.
She also refers to extra car parking and "new road access", although no detail is provided on the roading plans.
Ms Mellor said she was "incredibly encouraged by the ACT government's response to our detailed business case, which involved many months of research, hard work and diligent planning.
"Our proposal provides the ACT with a once in a lifetime tourism infrastructure opportunity that will not only facilitate much needed urban renewal in Canberra's CBD, but deliver meaningful employment."
The casino's plans include a new entrance that opens on to Glebe Park, including a piece of land bought by the government in 2014, some of which is expected to be sold to the casino.
It also includes 200 poker machines, breaking the monopoly that Canberra's clubs have on poker machines, a decision that unleashed a strong campaign from the clubs against the Barr government last year.
The casino's bid was first put to the government in late 2015, with a business case submitted midway through last year, but there has been largely silence since from the government.
The initial request for 500 poker machines was knocked back, with Cabinet approving 200. But the plan hit another hurdle last year when the Greens said they would only support poker mahines in the casino if spins were limited to $1 and gamblers had to say up front how much they would spend. Both measures make a big dent in the profitability of poker machines and it has been unclear whether the casino's ambitious plan would be feasible with those restrictions.
But it appears from Thursday's statement that the casino is moving ahead as planned.
The green light to move to the next stage came from the directorate which is assessing the bid, rather than cabinet
Aquis Entertainment bought the casino late in 2014 as its entry into the Australian market, with much bigger plans for a casino in Queensland.
